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The Zacks Analyst Blog PLTY, KTEC, SETH, UNG and BDRY
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For Immediate Releases
Chicago, IL – March 4, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks and ETFs featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF (PLTY - Free Report) , KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF (KTEC - Free Report) , ProShares Short Ether ETF (SETH - Free Report) , United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG - Free Report) and Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (BDRY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
5 Best-Performing ETFs of February
U.S. stocks ended a volatile trading day on a high note on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5%, rebounding from a NVIDIA-led sell-off on Thursday.
Overall, Wall Street had a losing February in 2025 due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and looming tariff threats from President Donald Trump, as well as tensions in the tech world due to the rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.The Nasdaq shed nearly 5% in February, while the S&P 500 and Dow both fell around 2%, reflecting investor uncertainty over Trump's planned tariffs that are set to take effect this week.
Key Highlights of February
Investors had to contend with escalating trade tensions after China vowed to retaliate against Trump’s latest tariff moves. The President announced an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports set to take effect Tuesday and pledged to impose new duties on Mexico, Canada and the European Union. The prospect of an intensifying trade war added to investor anxiety.
Adding to the trade turbulence, an economic agreement between the United States and Ukraine remained unresolved after a heated exchange in the Oval Office between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The shouting match left negotiations in limbo, further clouding the geopolitical outlook as markets braced for more uncertainty.
Meanwhile, economic data offered mixed signals. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, cooled to 2.6%, aligning with expectations and easing concerns about inflation. However, consumer spending fell 0.2% in January, missing forecasts of a 0.1% increase and contrasting with December’s 0.8% rise, raising concerns about slowing economic momentum.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 64.7 in February — a nearly 10% decline — as consumers voiced inflation concerns, particularly due to the likely new tariffs. The five-year inflation outlook climbed to 3.5%, the highest since 1995.U.S. existing home sales dropped more than expected to 4.08 million units in January (read: Time for Defensive Sector ETFs?)
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its slump, with Bitcoin plunging 7% to its lowest level since November, marking a 25% drop from its record high amid a broader crypto sell-off. As markets wrapped up a turbulent February, investors remained cautious about the uncertainty surrounding trade policies, geopolitical developments, and economic trends heading into March.
Best-Performing ETFs of February
YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF– Up 29.7%
Palantir stock took a beating in February. Overall, the stock gained 1.4% ovr the past month. This is why this high-yield safer version of PLTR ETF surged in February. Note that the YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF is an actively managed fund that seeks to generate monthly income by writing call options on PLTR. The ETF yields 29.52% annually (read: Time to Buy the Dip in Palantir Stock With These ETFs?).
Ethereum prices lost about 30% in February as cryptocurrencies fell out of investors’ favor. No wonder, inverse ether ETF gained last month.
United States Natural Gas Fund LP– Up 20.5%
U.S. natural gas prices stayed high from early February as cold weather weighed on supply and boosted demand. Prices surged as an Arctic blast boosted heating demand while freezing oil and gas wells, disrupting production.
Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF– Up 18.5%
The underlying Capesize 5TC Index, Panamax 4TC Index & Supramax 6TC Index measure rates for shipping dry bulk freight.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
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Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Previewreports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog PLTY, KTEC, SETH, UNG and BDRY
For Immediate Releases
Chicago, IL – March 4, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks and ETFs featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF (PLTY - Free Report) , KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF (KTEC - Free Report) , ProShares Short Ether ETF (SETH - Free Report) , United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG - Free Report) and Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (BDRY - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
5 Best-Performing ETFs of February
U.S. stocks ended a volatile trading day on a high note on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5%, rebounding from a NVIDIA-led sell-off on Thursday.
Overall, Wall Street had a losing February in 2025 due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and looming tariff threats from President Donald Trump, as well as tensions in the tech world due to the rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.The Nasdaq shed nearly 5% in February, while the S&P 500 and Dow both fell around 2%, reflecting investor uncertainty over Trump's planned tariffs that are set to take effect this week.
Key Highlights of February
Investors had to contend with escalating trade tensions after China vowed to retaliate against Trump’s latest tariff moves. The President announced an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports set to take effect Tuesday and pledged to impose new duties on Mexico, Canada and the European Union. The prospect of an intensifying trade war added to investor anxiety.
Adding to the trade turbulence, an economic agreement between the United States and Ukraine remained unresolved after a heated exchange in the Oval Office between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The shouting match left negotiations in limbo, further clouding the geopolitical outlook as markets braced for more uncertainty.
Meanwhile, economic data offered mixed signals. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, cooled to 2.6%, aligning with expectations and easing concerns about inflation. However, consumer spending fell 0.2% in January, missing forecasts of a 0.1% increase and contrasting with December’s 0.8% rise, raising concerns about slowing economic momentum.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 64.7 in February — a nearly 10% decline — as consumers voiced inflation concerns, particularly due to the likely new tariffs. The five-year inflation outlook climbed to 3.5%, the highest since 1995.U.S. existing home sales dropped more than expected to 4.08 million units in January (read: Time for Defensive Sector ETFs?)
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its slump, with Bitcoin plunging 7% to its lowest level since November, marking a 25% drop from its record high amid a broader crypto sell-off. As markets wrapped up a turbulent February, investors remained cautious about the uncertainty surrounding trade policies, geopolitical developments, and economic trends heading into March.
Best-Performing ETFs of February
YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF– Up 29.7%
Palantir stock took a beating in February. Overall, the stock gained 1.4% ovr the past month. This is why this high-yield safer version of PLTR ETF surged in February. Note that the YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF is an actively managed fund that seeks to generate monthly income by writing call options on PLTR. The ETF yields 29.52% annually (read: Time to Buy the Dip in Palantir Stock With These ETFs?).
KraneShares Hang Seng TECH Index ETF– Up 29.3%
China ETFs ruled in February. Several China-based ETFs surged last month on the DeepSeek rise as well as policy stimulus in that country (read: China ETFs in Tug-of-War Between Tariff Threats & Policy Boost).
ProShares Short Ether ETF– Up 27.9%
Ethereum prices lost about 30% in February as cryptocurrencies fell out of investors’ favor. No wonder, inverse ether ETF gained last month.
United States Natural Gas Fund LP– Up 20.5%
U.S. natural gas prices stayed high from early February as cold weather weighed on supply and boosted demand. Prices surged as an Arctic blast boosted heating demand while freezing oil and gas wells, disrupting production.
Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF– Up 18.5%
The underlying Capesize 5TC Index, Panamax 4TC Index & Supramax 6TC Index measure rates for shipping dry bulk freight.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week.
Get it free >>
Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Previewreports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.